Solomon Islands National Environment Management Strategy 2020–2023.

The Solomon Islands National Environment Management Strategy (NEMS) 2020–2023 is a national policy with a cross-sectoral approach. The timeframe of the NEMS is 3 years covering the period between 2020 and 2023. The NEMS lays down environment management strategies as a means of linking development and conservation of environment with the aim of maintaining sustainable development. The NEMS is structured around the seven thematic areas in the State of Environment report: culture and heritage; atmosphere and climate; land; marine and coastal; freshwater; biodiversity; and built environment. The NEMS is guided by global principles that include leadership and good governance, collective responsibility for the environment, indigenous knowledge, practices and innovations, and integration of the environment and development.
The NEMS provides for the establishment of a central database for information sharing, knowledge exchange, and decision making. The indicators will be developed for impacts of environmental practices on culture and heritage. The guidelines for traditional conservation practices will be developed. The local diets and recipes will be promoted for households and communities and markets. The local preservative methods will be developed for food storage or longer shelf life to maintain sustainable food sources during disaster situation. Sustainable land use planning will be promoted in villages and communities and the number of organic farming initiatives will be increased in villages and urban centres. The nutritional status of families and households will be improved through food security policies that ensure affordable, available and accessible food. Food safety will be ensured by establishing measures to control food imports, encouraging selling of traditional food and improving food safety standards.
The national air quality standards and monitoring systems will be developed to maintain air quality. Emissions regulations for industries and sectors will be implemented to reduce pollution. Air quality will be improved by investing in renewable energy, efficient technology and innovation; reducing pollutants; reducing the use of fuel; and introducing transport emissions controls and standards. Effective monitoring and planning will be put in place to protect the ozone layer, and the entry of prohibited gases and substances will be prevented. GHG Emissions will be monitored across all sectors and GHG emissions data will be produced and reported to national, regional and global partners. Measures will be taken to reduce emissions from forestry logging and crop farming, such as introducing alternative farming methods to prevent slash and burning and setting annual quota on logging felling license. Climate change risks will be integrated into the development plans and sustainable adaptation measures and disaster risk reduction will be supported.
In order to strengthen land management, research will be conducted to reduce the impacts of agriculture and livestock farming on the environment. The agricultural and livestock extension services will be provided to support farmers in sustainable production. The land use plans and land capability will be developed to prevent land degradation, soil erosion, depletion of water resources and encroachment of forests. The control of manufacture, import, storage, sale, use and disposal of pesticides or other agriculture chemicals will be strengthened. Organic farming will be promoted and certification of organic products will be developed. Sustainable forestry practices and alternative livelihood options with communities and resource owners will be promoted, including awareness, education, tree planting, rehabilitation and environmental monitoring. Forest inventory will be updated to indicate forest stock, carbon emissions, high value conservation area, and land use planning. The logging monitoring and enforcement will be strengthened and logging process will be aligned to EIA regulations.
Sustainable management of offshore fisheries will be ensured and the benefits from offshore fisheries resources will be increased, improved and diversified. The harvest, processing and export of fish and fishery products will be controlled through appropriate public-private partnerships. IUU fishing will be eliminated by strengthening current regulatory framework to ensure compliance with the Fisheries Management Act 2015 and its subsidiary regulations and improving electronic monitoring and reporting on the fishing industry for management. Sustainable inshore fisheries will be supported to enable communities and individuals to have access to pelagic fisheries and reduce pressure on coral reef ecosystems. The communities, CBOs, local government and other partners will be supported to implement CBRM and natural resource management programmes. Data collection, research and monitoring in coastal fisheries will be improved to inform decision-making and cross-sectoral planning. The market access and enhanced livelihood opportunities will be improved for increased socioeconomic benefits and good nutrition. The conservation status of threatened, endangered and vulnerable marine species and ecosystems will be improved and the management of marine protected areas will be strengthened. A coastal water quality monitoring and reporting system, including identifying indicators and parameters, will be developed to maintain coastal water quality.
The NEMS sets out actions to improve the access to fresh water and access to drinking water. Appropriate guidelines and standards will be developed for water quality and the monitoring, enforcement and compliance will be strengthened in both urban and rural areas. Integrated Water Resource Management will be promoted to increase the number and area of watersheds, catchments, wetlands. Rainwater harvesting and other options will be improved by increasing water tanks and roof catchments in villages. Water common storage systems will be assessed and monitoring system which includes data on water extraction, climate and water salinity collection, will be improved.
Biodiversity conservation will be ensured through effective management of invasive species; protection of endemic flora and fauna; establishment and strengthened management of protected areas; sustainable land use planning; sustainable forestry management; and protection of vulnerable and threatened species and habitats.